


Fake Hearts Can Love

by terrifically_terrified



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Amanda the Bitch, Anti-Androids, Connor acts about 2, Connor is in DEEP, Connor is super Gay, Deviant Connor, Doesn’t follow Game, Good Parent Hank Anderson, Hurt Connor (Detroit: Become Human), It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, M/M, Poor Connor, RK800/RK900 - Freeform, RK900/Conrad, Rape/Non-con Elements, Slow Burn, Slow Updates, Smut, Sumo Being a Good Boy, Violence against androids
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-08-06
Packaged: 2019-06-11 03:23:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 7
Words: 21,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15306366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terrifically_terrified/pseuds/terrifically_terrified
Summary: “Tell me Connor, how do you get through the day? Knowing you betrayed the very people who created you?”





	1. Hot Coffee and Hot Tempers

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first ever work on here? So please be nice :( I also ship Connor/Connor so much but it’s a rare ship so I made this book basically because I’m selfish?

Connor opened his eyes, taking in the garden around him. He observed the river that snaked it’s way lazily around it, made to look natural but so obviously man-made. Or mind-made, Connor supposed. After all none of what he was seeing was real. It was all in his brain. Ever since Connor had turned deviant he had saw no need to come here, to this place, it only disturbed him and made him feel on edge. Even when he was just a machine. And he wasn’t sure if his absence had been the cause, but the garden didn’t look quite so clean. So perfect and precise. A quick scan showed nothing was different, but upon closer inspection the grass was longer, now reaching up to Connors ankle. And the rose bushes that Amanda worked so hard on now grew unruly and with no smear kf direction. 

Connor located Amanda , working on a particularly unkempt rose bush. She had shears in hand, making quick work of the plant to an almost violent extent, clipping, spraying and taunting the plants, daring them to grow any other way but perfect. He began to walk towards her, his dress shoes clipping in time to the the shears in the woman’s hand. 

“Perfect, Connor” she called. “So subjective. So....fleeting.” She set the cutters down, turning to look at the deviant. “You however... were so, so perfect. Until you ruined it. Too busy caring about your relationships with others to finish missions.” She snarled, her lip curling up in a disgusted fashion. “And you never come too see me anymore, I can’t understand why not.” She pouted, her red painted lips puffing out. Silence hung between the two. Connor knew why he didn’t come here anymore. He hates it. This was a place of control, somewhere he could be monitored and watched and judged. And no amount of roses could cover the ugly truth that seeped through the vines and ran through the river in a black inky tar. Amanda watched Connors LED for a few seconds, the calm blue not giving away any secrets. “Deviancy. A black rose among a sea of red. An error. A mistake.” She cackled. “That’s all it is Connor. Deviants don’t actually feel, it’s just errors. Tricking them into believing. It’s shame really. For machines to think that they are human.”

The android didn’t reply. He briefly wondered if Amanda had caught onto his own deviancy, but pushed the thought away. He had done well concealing it. Amanda should be none the wiser. Yet again there was silence. Amanda sighed and moved. “Your going to be given a new companion, Connor. A superior model to you. Not only do you fail to complete missions, but your officially outdated.” Amanda stated, eyes sparkling with glee at the insult. He followed her to the centre of a garden. “Here he is... truly a masterpiece.”

Connor couldn’t help but to agree. It was himself, but different. Taller, muscular, dark straight hair pushed back to expose his forehead and piercing blue eyes. Yes, perfection was subjective. But this Android was perfection in every sense of the word. They observed each other, before Amanda brought Connor out of his trance. “You see, you were made to be pleasing to the human eye, to help with negotiation and the likes. But the RK900 has no reason for this, he gets his requirements through brute strength. Of course, he’s still rather pleasing to look at, don’t you think?” She laughed, clapping her hands together. “Take a step closer, acquaint yourselves. He’ll begin work tomorrow.” And with that, Amanda vanished. 

“State your model line and number please” Connor began, circling the android before him. “RK900, model number -1.” The other stated almost robotically, eyes following Connor. The smaller of the two stood before the RK900, “that doesn’t really slip of the tongue. Your name will be Conrad.” The other simply nodded. “I’m sure it’ll be a pleasure working with you.” Connor finished, turning and walking down the path he had just come from. 

Conrad twitched as a voice whispered in his ear, “keep and eye on him, any signs of deviancy and take him down.” The RK900 straightened his tie, and followed in Connors footsteps. 

\- - - - 

Amanda stayed true to her word, and the next day the new and upgraded Connor stood in the center of the Detroit precinct, with officers surrounding him. Connor walked up towards him, and shook the androids hand. 

There was an almost stunned silence, the officers not quite believing in what was infront of them. Of course this didn’t last very long, as just seconds later a cacophony of voices all spoke at once. “There’s two of them now!?” “Fan-fucking-tastic” “Gavins gonna be pissed.” Was a few of the mutterings that circled the two, as Hank stumbled in, eyes widening as he took in the sight before him. 

“Ah for fucks sake Connor, one of you are enough,” he muttered, shouldering past everyone, clearly hungover. Connor watched him in concern, he’d already told Hank his views on his alcohol consumption, which had led him to a middle finger and some very colourful words. 

“Actually lieutenant, there is only one of me, this is my predecessor, RK900. He is to accompany us on investigations. Two androids are better than one, as the saying goes.” He smiled, knowing that that was not a saying at all. He was getting better at what the humans called ‘jokes.’

“Don’t be a smart ass, Connor. He can share your desk.” Hank shot back, putting his head on his own desk muttering something about ‘fucking androids’ under his breath. Conrad watched the two carefully, logging into his memory bank just how close the two seemed to be. Not necessarily deviant behaviour, but somewhat rare. He hadn’t observed any of the other officers act so warm towards the androids, and he wondered what sort of the relationship the two had. Nevertheless, a pro-android detective was a welcome site to see. 

SCANNING.....SCANNING  
ANDERSON,HANK  
DETROIT POLICE DEPARTMENT  
PARTNER OF ANDROID RK800 -89

Conrad, pleased with his quick scan delved deeper into information on the lieutenant, reading on his past achievements and the unfortunate death of his son, Cole. He had also picked up on the mans alcoholism, given the foul smell of whiskey radiating from him, and the fact that no one seemed surprised when the Lieutenant had shown up clearly incompetent for work. 

“Oh, I almost forgot Lieutenant, your morning coffee, just the way you like it.” Connor broke the silence that stretched over the three like a heavy blanket, reaching over his desk to place the coffee beside the older man. Just as he was about to set the beverage down, a man knocked into him, sending the hot drink flying, directly onto Connors lap. “Well fuck, I’m seeing double today,” A man sneered, “you better keep your buddy here in check, or he’ll get the same as you.”

A quick scan showed this was in-fact Officer Gavin Reed. Conrad sensed a hint of hostility in his tone, and in an attempt to calm the situation he introduced himself to the officer. “Hello, I am Conrad, the RK900 android sent by Cyberlife.” Gavin simply stared him down before turning to Connor again “well fuck me, he even talks like you. And I’d clean yourself up, wouldn’t want to stain your fancy jacket.” He chuckled before turning and stomping away to his desk. Conrad ran a few more scans, and concluded that if he felt emotions, he would surely hate that man. 

“I’ll be in men’s restroom, cleaning myself up.” Connor stated, leaving Hank and Conrad in each other’s company. Hank only sighed, no doubt due to the fact that there would be no coffee for him today. 

Once Connor was out of earshot Conrad spoke to the alcoholic. “You and Connor seem close.” Hank stared at him, something akin to a smile playing at the corner of his lip before he replied. “Well yeah, after being followed around for so long you get used to the pest.” Conrad nodded in understanding, before pushing up from the shared desk. “He seems very... human. Unlike other androids.” Hank eyed the android, “is that a bad thing?” He asked suspiciously, eyes biting into the RK900s. Icy blue up against dull grey ones. “Not at all. I’m going to try and help him get cleaned up.” Conrad left without waiting for a reply, heading for the bathroom. Hank simply shook his head, before bringing it down to rest on the desk once more. 

\- - - - 

Connor stood before a mirror in the men’s restroom, a string of curse words tumbling from his mouth (he’d learned such a colourful vocabulary from Hank of course) His ‘fancy jacket’ was definitely stained, his attempts at soaking up the liquid before they did any real harm proving futile. A shame really, now he’d have to show up at Cyberlife and request a new uniform. And now he was deviant, he couldn’t help but be on edge every time he stepped into the building. 

His head shot up at the creaking of the bathroom door opening, expecting Officer Reed to show up and have repeat of last time. (Which included a lot of pushing around on Gavins end, and the sentence “Sorry Officer Reed, I’m not interested in seeking out a romantic relationship right now, best leave your hands to yourself before you embarrass yourself again.) It had earned him a swift punch to the jaw, but it had been worth it so see those few seconds of horror on Gavins face as he desperately tried to prove he wasn’t attracted to the android. 

Fortunately, it was Conrad, and not someone intent in making his life misery. Cough, Gavin, cough. He smiled at the other android, that sort of smirk thy lifted up a tiny bit more in one corner. “Can I help you?” 

“Actually, RK800, I believe you can.” Conrad began, walking to stand in front of Connor. “You see, I think it would better our investigations if we knew how capable each other were.” Connor looked confused. “Could we compare each other? To see the differences and strengths between the two of us.” Connor caught on, a slight blush in his cheeks. 

“Oh, um. Right. Of course. Yes, I suppose that would help.” He let out a nervous chuckle, hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. Conrads quick scan showed raise in body temperatures, something Connors in-body radiator was no doubt responsible for. His thirium pump had also began to pump faster, at 125 pumps per minute. Not worryingly high, but higher than average. 

Was Connor..... embarrassed? That wouldn’t make any sense, androids weren’t programmed to feel. There wasn’t even anything overtly embarrassing about the situation at hand. This was simply a scam to see how competent each android was. 

..LOGGING ANOMALY IN PROGRAMMING  
REPORT SENT TO CYBERLIFE...

“To begin, how about physical appearance? Would you be comfortable with a close up analysis on your face and body?” Connors blush intensified, as he stuttered out a quick ‘yes, you may proceed’ Conrad took a step closer, breaking the personal space barrier at extreme levels. His piercing eyes raked over Connors features. Cold. Calculating. 

He noticed the softness of Connors features. So similar yet so different. Connor had a jawline, and cheekbones and a pointed chin yes, but everything seemed to have been blurred. It gave him a youthful look, easy to talk to. Nothing like Conrads sharp edges. And his eyes, warm inviting. Conrad searched his memory banks for something to compare them to. Nothing could be created so perfectly without inspiration. Images of amber, and warm honey and woods filled his vision, but nothing was quite matching those eyes. Brown hair nested on top of his head, one unruly curl laying on his forehead. His nose, and lips accentuated his features, adding to the whole look that he had going. Looking even closer, he noticed that the androids face was littered in freckles and moles. Completely unnecessary, yet so beautiful. This Android was so beautiful. So warm and pretty and exciting. This was in no way to say Conrad felt anything towards Connors appearance. Yes he was pleasing to look at, but he had been made that way. Conrad had never been one for looking in mirrors or analysing others outward appearances, however, he couldn’t help but wonder what he would look like if he had been made like Connor. Would he be more approachable? Would people be less afraid? He cut off his line of thought, that was a dangerous path to go down. Thoughts like that led to deviancy. Connor had been designed like this to help with interrogations and the likes. That’s all. That’s why he looked like that. 

Connor was also having a crisis. He had inspected the android before him, and had noted his sharp cheekbones and jawline. His flawless skin. Pale and (seemingly) silky smooth. And, Connor was lost in those eyes. Those silver blue eyes. He was speechless. How was someone allowed to have such pretty eyes? Connor fidgeted with his hands, unable to control himself as his hand lifted, ready to stroke Conrad’s cheek. 

Thankfully (or maybe not) someone burst into the bathroom. There was an upside and a downside to this. The upside, the noise snapped Connor out of his trance, and he managed to bring his hand down before he embarrassed himself. The downside, the person who has just barged in was none other than Gavin Reed, and he was in a foul mood. Then again, when wasn’t he? 

He stopped, staring the two androids down. He took in Conor’s frazzled state and just how close the two were. He let out a barking laugh, almost bent over with how much he was laughing. “For fucks sake, plastic pricks went and got himself a toy!” 

Connor was throughly embarrassed and upset. He wanted nothing more than to get out of there. He could feel himself beating up as his fans activated in an attempt to bring his body temperature down, and there was eye lubricant collecting in the corner of his eyes. What was wrong with him? He had never cried because of Gavin before, In fact he hadn’t cried in forever. So why was he getting so emotional? Connor remembered that when he first became deviant everything was so overwhelming. He went through severe mood swings, often going from bouncing against walls to cuddled up beside Sumo bawling his eyes out. He suspected this was due to his severe lack of emotion before deviancy, and at realising how bad an android he had been he cried for a full day, only finding solace in Hanks arms as he awkwardly patted the RK800s back and told him he wasn’t a band person. He muttered a quick shut up to Gavin, eyes downcast as he tried to avoid eye contact. 

Gavin continued his taunting, getting closer and closer and eventually pushing Connor, catching the android off guard and sending him stumbling. Just a few centimetres but enough to let Gavin now he was affecting the poor machine. Just as he was about to go in for another push a muscular body stepped in between the two. “I’m going to have to ask you to stop. You are not only harassing a colleague, but damaging property. Android parts are quite costly.” Gavin stared up at Conrad, clicking his tongue but backing off. He stomped over to a cubicle, muttering about ‘just needing a piss and the fucking robot couldn’t keep his hands to himself.’

Conrad turned and left the restroom, completely indifferent to the events that had just taken place. Connor was left to scramble after him, in a bit of a predicament. Because he had realised Gavin was right for once. He couldn’t help but realise that he had feelings for Conrad, and they had only known each other for a matter of half an hour! How was Connor going to cope? He thought that perhaps this was another one of those things. He had never felt attraction to another person, not even acknowledging people’s outward appearances, so perhaps now that he had finally taken the time to appreciate someone’s looks, the feeling of attraction was crashing around him like tidal waves, pulling him under and spitting him back up again in rapid quick fire movements. 

He was battling with his own programming here. How had he fallen so hard and so fast? Had he really been that starved of physical relationships? But he had Hank, and although that was strictly father-son he had thought that he didn’t really need anything else. Yes there were stories of Androids in love and having partners but he had never wanted that. So why now, why was his brain so fixated on the idea of this android?

How was he going to deal with this? His processors were going into overdrive trying to explain his sudden attachment to the android in front of him. Errors popped up in his peripheral vision, but he didn’t pay much attention to them. He had gotten used to ignoring the red blinking messages that appeared whenever he did something not necessarily in his programming. He almost choked on his synthetic tongue however when a new mission involuntarily overtook his eyesight. 

...Convince Conrad to love me...


	2. A Snakes Bad Fortune

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conrad simply nodded, an error popping up to inform him that the promise he just made contradicted his mission to inform Amanda of any deviant behaviour from Connor. But there was something in the way Connor had seemed so vulnerable, so human in so many ways. The way his eyes held an almost childlike terror in them. It was enough to make Conrad ignore the error message and follow Connor down the steps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has clicked on this story! I hope you continue to enjoy the story :)

Connor was back in the zen garden. Everything was back to normal. To how it should have been. The grass was cut. The rose bushes ‘perfect.’ This really shouldn’t matter, Amanda was a control freak after all. However, this all seemed much more sinister. Maybe it was the pure sense of order. Of control, that made Connor feel flighty. Control seemed to ooze out of everything, every molecule of artificial air almost suffocated with the stuff. 

Amanda was no where to be seen. Which was another warning sign. Where else could she be? She was trapped in this garden, with her roses and river and evilness. No matter how much she enjoyed or hated it here, she was stuck in this place for the rest of Connors existence, for it was HIS mind after all. He heard a hissing from the bushes, and a small green snake slid out from underneath one and wriggled it’s way along the path. Connor was transfixed on it, it’s emerald scales giving off an almost iridescent sheen. A scan showed this was just your common corn snake, but something about it was just so beautiful, so captivating. The way it’s small pink tongue flitted out every few seconds to test its surroundings. Black scales dotting the otherwise dark green body of the snake. Which is why Connor bent down to examine the specimen closer. 

Which is why he didn’t have time to react to the red heel stomping down on the poor snakes body. 

His brain drew a blank, watching the creature writhe in pure pain as his sensors tried to connect the dots on what just happened. His eyes traveled up the dark leg, up to Amanda’s face which looked down on the snake in pure disgust. “Horrible, scaly things. Probably bad for the roses.” She sneered, heel grinding away on the snakes body, which was letting out a continuous hiss that seemed to grow quieter and quieter. She waited until the body had ceased to move before removing the heel, a disgusting mess of the snakes insides left behind in it wake. 

Connor did nothing. He didn’t know what to do. The snake had done nothing, and yet it was rewarded with a heel right through its body. Images of its death unwillingly made their way into his memory bank, slithering into his head just like that of the snake. He suddenly remembered he could not look too affected, for fear of raising suspicion. He stood up, fixing his face into one of indifference. Although his hands clenching and unclenching was a telltale sign of a disturbance in Connors programming. “Can I help you at all today?” He questioned, watching as Amanda’s eyes searched for answers that he wasn’t going to give up without a fight. 

She turned, red lips parted as if to speak before she stopped. She seemed to think for a moment before responding. “No Connor, you are not needed. Continue your missions with Conrad. That will be all.” The Android has no time to react, as Amanda stalked off, her first few steps leaving the signs of the events that had just unfolded in her wake. 

Something urged Connor. Something he didn’t recognise. It urged him to reach down and grab the snake, pocketing it before he closed his eyes and opened them in Hanks kitchen. He didn’t expect the snake to still be there. After all, it hadn’t actually been real. It had all happened in his mind. Which was why he was absolutely horrified as his hand reached into his pocket and retrieved the snake, staining his hands in a crimson red. His LED turned red, his brain trying to come up with all different, perfectly reasonable excuses for why there was a dead snake hanging limply from his fingers with a near perfect hole right in the middle of its body, all the while in the middle of Hanks kitchen. 

It was at this point in time he noticed the absence of Hank and Sumo, and was so glad that Hank had decided to take the big canine on a walk at that time. Now, he just had to figure out what to do with this snake. He could always just throw it in the bin outside and hope nothing was hungry enough to unearth the creature again, but that seemed wrong. After all, this thing was technically more alive than Connor. At least, it was. Images of the snake curling itself around the red heel in a desperate attempt to escape slipped its way into Connors mind, and he willed them to go away.

This wouldn’t do. He stood up from the table and made his way into the backyard. He would bury it. That way he was giving it a proper send off. He realised just how silly this all was. Why did he feel like a murderer? Could he have prevented this in any way possible? The red that coated his hands wasn’t helping his train of thought as he dug a shallow and long grave, if not for his current mindset he may even laugh at the thought a snake grave. But images of the insides of the snake being crushed to a bloody pulp was enough to shut down any and all comical thoughts. 

As soon as the hole had been re-covered, and the only sign of the area being disturbed was the upturned area of soil, he allocated himself a new mission (aside from the annoyingly large one that he had learned to ignore from yesterday that informed him he was to make Conrad love him) The mission was simple. Get Clean. And that’s what he planned to do. Of course, the diseases that the blood carried would not affect him but he was sure Hank would want an explanation as to just what the fuck Connor was doing, and Connor didn’t have any answers. 

The snakes blood seemed to suffocate his synthetic pores, the dark crimson coating his fingers like glue. He rushed to the bathroom, glad the door was open as he didn’t want to touch anything with his gore covered hands. His hands turned the tap, managing to transfer minimal amounts of blood onto it. Connor visibly relaxed as the inky red began to deep down the drain, his skin beginning to go from red to the usual pale skin colour. After he was finished he wiped the tap and fixed himself in the mirror to look more presentable, just in time as the tell tale clatter of claws sounded through the house. He plastered a smile on and exited the bathroom, welcoming the lieutenant and his dog. 

“I got a call,” Hank grunted. “Homicide made to look like a suicide, at least that’s what they think. They want us and your buddy Conrad to go check it out.” 

\- - - -   
It turns out that the case was in fact a murder. It was an easy one, where all they really had to do was quickly sweep the scene while Connor and Conrad scanned evidence to try and locate the killer. Surprisingly this killing did not seem to be the work of a deviant, as two sets of fingerprints were left all over the gun the dead man had been holding, and there were flakes of human skin left on the mans clothing (that did not belong to him) 

Connor came to the conclusion that this murderer had no idea what he was doing, as this was one of the most poorly executed homicides he’d ever seen. The fingerprints, a window was left wide open, and footsteps led away from it showing the escape route. 

“Odd.” Conrad mumbled, he’d been following Connor all through the crime scene, not really doing much. Just watching Connor work. Connor likened him to a ghost, and whenever he brushed against the other (not always accidentally) his sensors seemed to burn up. 

“What’s odd?”

“The footprints. They stop, right beside that shed.” Connor cursed under his breath. How could he have not realised? No doubt Conrad now thought of him as a lesser detective, and his cheeks turned a slight blue as he mumbled up an excuse about how he was testing Conrad to see how observant he was. Conrad simply looked down at him in an amused manner. 

Connor blamed Conrad on his sub-par detective skills. 

Both androids both began to move silently towards the structure. There was no movement from inside the shed, but that didn’t really say anything as the perpetrator could be hiding up in one of the back corners of the shed. Connor drew his gun (which he was allowed to use on missions like this) as he neared the inside. 

As they entered he located a quiet gasp from the left of him somewhere. A normal human probably wouldn’t hear this, but Connor was no human. “Detroit Police Department, come out with your hands up. Anything you say can and will be held against you in cou-.” Before he had even finished the sentence a man burst out from behind a stack of crates and vaulted through a window into the night. 

Connor sighed as he prepared himself to run after the man, copying his actions and jumping through the window, Conrad hot on his heels. He could see the man clearly in the darkness of the garden thanks to his vision receptors, and followed him over a fence and into a back alley. The man began to climb a ladder that no doubt led to the roof of the building it was attached to. Connor smirked a little, the man had just gotten himself trapped. 

He followed the murdered up the ladders, gaining on him every second. As the two androids released themselves from the ladder the man slowed down, no doubt realising that he had been caught. His head whipped left and right desperately trying to find an escape route, but coming up empty handed. He turned, his dark eyes searching both of the machines faces. 

“I didn’t mean to do it. He had made a bet and lost, I was just supposed to get money off of him! But he pulled a gun and I panicked. I did what anyone would do.” The man almost seemed to be pleading, hoping they would sympathise with him. Connor knew the man was telling the truth as he had created a reconstruction back at the house. This man had still killed someone though, and that was in no way going to be left un-dealt with.

“Why did you make it look like a suicide?” Conrad’s cold and icy voice cut through the darkness, sending a shiver down Connors spine. He scolded himself, now wasn’t the time! The man simply looked away, muttering something about trying to buy more time but too scared to run away. He held his hands out, telling them both they could arrest him.

Connor stepped forward, ready to seize the man. He was glad this had been an easy chase... until. There on his hand. A green serpent tattoo with a dagger through it. Connors mind went into a frenzy, filling up with images of the poor creature that had been stabbed in the body and ground into the concrete below it. He heard the hiss, felt the cool body in his hand as he tried to figure out just what to do with it. He watched it coil around itself, trying to latch onto whatever it was causing it so much pain. 

Conrad watched on questioningly, his partner had just froze up and showed no signs of cuffing the criminal. He didn’t know the android well, but he doubted his was a usual occurrence. Taking advantage of this, the man shouldered past Connor, sending him stumbling to the ground. Connor still didn’t react, eyes glazed over in a faraway look. 

Conrad did a quick scan, there was only a 20% chance the man would get away as he was going back in the direction of the crime scene where around 10 officers would be waiting for him. He also wasn’t sure what was wrong with Connor. He could be drugged or stunned, and if he’d left him here in this immobilised state anything could happen to him. Conrad cursed, making his decision and bending down to get a good look at his partner. 

There was no tell tale signs of being drugged, or signs of anything foreign interacting with the android. Yet he was still frozen in place, arms hugging himself like a five year old and eyes filled with some sort of horror. 

“Connor. Connor, are you alright? Are all your systems running okay?” Conrad didn’t know what to do, there was nothing like this in his memory bank, because stuff like this wasn’t suppose to happen. Connor was the second most advanced android in the world, he wasn’t supposed to just seize up!

He was mumbling something, but not even Conrad could catch it. The bigger of the two cursed, placing his hands on either side of Connors body. He shook him gently. No response. Scanning him, it showed a raise in bpm, high thirium levels and increased temperature. He desperately searched through his databases trying to link something to what was happening. A panic attack. Connor was having a panic attack. 

This was not normal. A perfectly functional android breaking down as he was about to cuff a bad guy? It made no sense. Conrad realised he’d have to calm the android down, and soon. His stress levels were 72% and although they stayed there, he couldn’t risk Connor self-destructing. He downloaded a file that told him what to do if a human was experiencing a panic attack, realised that this may not help at all since Connor wasn’t human, and did the next best thing. 

He gathered the smaller android in his arms, reading about helping the person feel protected and safe. He began to talk to Connor, a few simple phrases he had taken from an article about how to calm someone down. “Your okay Connor, nothings going to hurt you. Your safe.” He began to rock the android, swaying side to side. 

There was no real emotion there. The words were mechanical, the hug forced and uncomfortable. The swaying calculated and mechanic. But it seemed enough for Connor, as he was gradually brought into the present, thirium pump slowing down. His eyes began to come back into focus, darting side to side before coming to rest on Conrad’s face. There was a moment of silence before Connor practically yelped and scrambled off of Connor, holding his arms as if he had just been burned. “I..what..why?” He seemed panicked, and Conrad was concerned that he would send himself into another attack. In an effort to calm the situation he stood, arms raised to show he wasn’t going to hurt Connor. 

“You were having a panic attack. I found out how to comfort you and followed the steps accordingly.” Connor seemed confused, head tilting to the side as his LED turned yellow, then back to blue. He nodded, still not lifting himself from the top of the roof. 

“Thank you.” He whispered, straightening himself and fixing his tie. He made his way towards the ladder that had led them up there in the first place, pausing to turn once more. “Please don’t tell anyone about this. It would be embarrassing, and I don’t want Hank to worry about me.”

Conrad simply nodded, an error popping up to inform him that the promise he just made contradicted his mission to inform Amanda of any deviant behaviour from Connor. But there was something in the way Connor had seemed so vulnerable, so human in so many ways. The way his eyes held an almost childlike terror in them. It was enough to make Conrad ignore the error message and follow Connor down the steps. 

Connor meanwhile was on a very different train of thought. During his panic attack he was provided with images of animals being killed, his memory bank unhelpfully trying to link the memory of the snake to things that already existed. During it all he realised one thing. Something that made his brow furrow and thirium pump speed up. 

It made no sense. Everything in the zen garden was simulated. So why, had Amanda created a snake, just to kill it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m not too sure about how the updates for this will work, I’m trying to get one out everyday but each chapter will have around 2500-4000 words and I may struggle to keep my schedule! <3


	3. Secrets As Told By The Rainfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How would he do this? How could he convincingly lie to Amanda as well as make sure Connor didn't give anything away? Conrad was a machine. A machine that followed orders. But right now his orders were all jumbled up and he wasn't sure what to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to apologise to everyone. I know I said that I’d try and update every day, but I haven’t been doing that well and had terrible writers block. To make up for it, this chapter is longer than usual :)

It was raining. Again. Connor hadn't left  Hanks house for 3 days now because of the heavy rainfall, and Sumo had begun to grow restless due to his walks being very few and far between. Talking about Sumo, the ginormous dog was suspiciously quiet, something that only meant bad news.

 

Connors eyes flitted to the drunk man beside him. He had argued with Hank just an hour before, Hank had downed a whole bottle of whiskey before trying to reach for more which Connor promptly put an end to. Hank had been pissed, and shouted at Connor for trying to take his alcohol. He watched on in horror as Connor poured the whole bottle down the drain shouting a bit more before passing out on the couch.

 

Connor hated seeing Hank drunk. He knew he couldn't stop the man no matter how hard he tried. He could pour out all the alcohol in the house and Hank would just go to the nearest bar and waste all of his money on overpriced shots. Whenever they got in an argument, Connor always felt bad afterwards. He knew it wasn't necessarily his fault the old man was an alcoholic, but that didn't stop him from feeling guilty. He pondered over this for a few more minutes before deciding to take Sumo for a walk, to help clear his head and to escape the droning snores of Hank.

 

He retrieved Sumos leash and whistled on the dog. A frequency that wouldn't wake Hank, but would alert the dog that it was time for a walk. The big lump of fur lumbered his way over to the android, letting out a huff as Connor opened the front door, icy cold wind and rain meeting them almost instantly. Connor wasn't in his uniform, and snuggled deeper into his sweater and rain jacket. Yes, he couldn't necessarily feel the cold, but it was still an unpleasant feeling having your vital bio-components freeze up and having to defrost them with Hanks old hairdryer.

 

\- - - -

 

Connor and Sumo finally made it to the park, it had taken them much longer considering Sumo had wriggled free of his collar and decided it'd be fun to roll around in a puddle, causing Connor to have to wrestle with the stupid thing to get the collar back on, which merited some very strange looks from passerby's trying to get out of the rain as fast as possible.

 

Sumo was lucky that Connor liked him.

 

Connor realised he didn't really know what to do now he was actually at the park, and decided he'd just go sit down while he allowed Sumo to roll around in however many puddles he liked. He situated himself down on a bench that had optimal viewing area of the park, tilted his head back and watched the rainfall. He stuck his tongue out, trying to catch a few drops of water in his mouth. He had witnessed a small child do this earlier on, and wanted to understand what was gained from it.

 

He finally caught a few droplets, his scanners confirming that this was intact water, and he felt his smile grow as a sense of accomplishment overcame him. He tried catching more, his smile getting bigger every time he succeeded.

 

"What are you doing." A slightly disturbed voice asked from his right side. He looked over to see Conrad, embarrassed he quickly sat up, desperately trying to situate his face into something more appropriate.

 

"I was um, tasting.. wait not tasting... I was testing the.... water? I can confirm. It is in fact water." He stumbled over his words, that stupid blue blush rising to his cheeks again at the thought of Conrad watching him act like a child.

 

"I see...." Conrad trailed off, unsure of the conversation. The two made eye contact, and Connor quickly ducked his head, scared he'd embarrass himself more. "Do you mind if I sit? I had to take a walk, it's bad for an android to be on standby all day and there's not much to do at Cyberlife. I would have normally tried working on a case, but we have completed all cases assigned to us at the moment."

 

Connor shuffled over, allowing Conrad to sit beside him. The two observed Sumo for a few minutes, who had taken to barking at a few ducks who had been enjoying the rain un-interrupted until just a few moments ago. Conrad quickly realised just how stupid the dog was, turning to inform Connor of the dogs idiocy, but pausing to observe the large smile that had overtaken Connors face has he watched the dog.

 

There was something so innocent in Connor. Something so purely human. So raw and unadulterated, untouched by the hate of humans and the corruption of deviants. It was refreshing. An android that wasn't all machine but wasn't intent on killing all humans like most deviants. Conrad knew that he shouldn't necessarily be glad of Connors (maybe?) deviancy, but it was hard to not enjoy the androids presence.

 

Talking of deviants, Conrad was growing more and more aware that Connors behaviour weren’t just personality quirks gifted to him by Cyberlife. Doubt bubbled in Conrad's mind, and he became increasingly worried that his partner was deviant. Of course, he pushed all of this to the back of his mind. If he pretended that nothing was different, then he technically was still keeping to his mission of watching over Connor for signs of deviancy. He couldn’t report something he hadn't realised.'

 

Conrad had been lost in thought, his eyes still trained on the side of Connors face. When the other android turned to ask the larger of the two a question, he froze, noticing the way Conrad was staring at him. Connors face turned a deep shade of blue, his hands fumbling for the coin in his pocket. He hated being stared at. He hated it. He always felt as if he was on display, and those few memories of his time at Cyberlife flashed across his vision. Images of his data being transferred to another model after an untimely accident. Of technicians screwing bits and pieces into him to make him 'the most advanced android yet.' Of course none of these were particularly unpleasant images, but it reminded him of when he was a machine. When he was okay with being controlled. He hated it.

 

"Please stop staring at me." He murmured, coin changing hands. "I don't like it." At this Conrad snapped out of his trance, confused at Connors behaviour. He hadn't been that obvious, had he?

 

"I apologise. I was deep in thought and wasn't very aware of what I was doing. I hope I didn't unsettle you."

 

Connor cursed. The apology was so robotic. It served as a reminder that Conrad was not deviant, and that pained Connor so much. He wasn't sure why, but he had grown so attached to Conrad when they had met a grand total of 3 times. It was sad really, just how alone Connor must feel to latch onto Conrad so quickly. His sensors picked up a now familiar feeling starting in the corner of his eyes. He cursed because, why the fuck was he crying? He wasn't upset. At least he didn't think so.

 

Connor had never been so happy about rain. It hid his tears from Conrad, which he was more than glad about. He didn't think he'd ever be able to explain his way out of why the hell he was crying on a park bench with another android and a dog a few feet in front of him. Mostly because he didn't quite know himself. He was sure Conrad was the root of the problem, but his mind couldn't connect the dots as to why he was the root of the problem.

 

Conrad of course, being the most advanced android ever, and quite frankly a smart ass picked up on Connors crying anyways. If the androids shaking body and heaving chest wasn't enough to confirm this, then the shaky breathes that couldn't be heard by a human ear certainly was.

 

"Connor. I'd like to inform you that you are crying."

 

"What? No I'm not!"

 

"It is very obvious to me that you are."

 

"I'm no- how do you know if I'm crying or not!?"

 

"Your very bad at lying Connor, and your very defensive for an android that 'wasn't crying.'

 

There was silence. And then Connor was hugging Conrad, tears streaming openly down his face. "I don't know why I'm so sad! There's something wrong with me Conrad, and I don't understand what!" He exclaimed, body shaking with violent sobs.

 

Conrad became acutely aware that Amanda may be watching this display through him. Luckily enough he knew how to disable that function due to the fact that loud mouth technicians liked to show off how fancy their creation was to others. He had to get Connor under control, it wouldn't do for some unsuspecting passerby to watch an android clutching onto another as it bawled it's eyes out.

 

Conrad was at a loss (once again) for how to deal with Connor. He had some experience from last time, and at least he wasn't having another panic attack. He tried to situate himself into a position where Connor would be able to hug him more comfortably. He had read that optimal comfort was good for trying to calm someone down, and decided he'd follow the advice in order to get Connor back to normal as soon as possible.

 

He simply cradled Connor, unsure of what to do next. What was with this android and bursting into random mental breakdowns? It seemed that this was enough, as Connor began to calm, hiccuping every now and again. He lifted his head from Conrad's side, staring up him. Something about this scene seemed very familiar.

 

Conrad's ears picked up a string of curse words leaving Connors mouth and he couldn't help but smirk. "I am so sorry. I don't know what cane over me. It must be an error in my code, I'll um... get Cyberlife to look at it as soon as pos-"

 

"Connor."

 

"What?"

 

"I know you're a deviant." Connor choked. Conrad's eyes widened. He hadn't meant to say that, he didn't plan on telling Connor. What had happened to the plan of not acknowledging it?

 

Well it was out in the open now, and although Connors face was blank Conrad could pick out the fear in his eyes. The way his hand clenched, he pulled back from Conrad, shaking his head side to side frantically.

 

"Conrad you, you can't tell anyone. If.. if Amanda found out she'd deactivate me. I didn't even mean it, it just happened! Please Conrad!"

 

"I'm sorry Connor, I have to inform Cyberlife." What was he doing? Conrad questioned, Connor hadn't done anything wrong and here he was threatening him with deactivation? There was a broken silence, awkward and uncomfortable. Conrad stood to leave. He had just turned when Connor grabbed his wrist, forcing him to turn around and look at him.

 

"Conrad please. You can't, I haven't done anything wrong! I've continued my missions, not harmed anyone. Please. They'll... they'll kill me." Connor was so, so broken. In more ways than one. And Conrad wasn't sure what it was, his eyes, or the begging or the use of the word kill, but his hard exterior broke for just a second. His shoulders sagged as he let out a sigh, mind running a mile a minute.

 

How would he do this? How could he convincingly lie to Amanda as well as make sure Connor didn't give anything away? Conrad was a machine. A machine that followed orders. But right now his orders were all jumbled up and he wasn't sure what to do. His thirium pump quickened, blue blood running through his veins faster and faster as he struggled to decide.

 

He could vaguely hear Connors pleading, but he felt like he was underwater. Everything was rushing towards him, and then there was a red wall that surrounded him. It was tall and loomed above him, the instructions:

 

TAKE DOWN CONNOR

 

was written in bold Cyberlife Sans.

 

Push it. Break it. Destroy it.

 

A sense of dread overcame him as he put one hand in the wall.

 

ERRORRRRRR

DEVIANCY IMMINENTTTt

FORCIN_G SHUTDOWN

0:20

 

Conrad struggled against the wall, bearing his weight down on it. He knew he had anti-deviancy programmes installed into him to make it impossible for him to even think about deviancy, but Connors pleading face fuelled him on. He shouldered into the wall, cracks appearing like a spiderweb.

 

0:12

 

He brought his shoulder down once again, a shattering sound exploding in his ears.

 

0:08

 

His vision blurred, messages popping up to tell him that his systems were shutting down one by one.

 

0:01

 

With a final push the wall broke, shattering into tiny red pieces that seemed to float gently to the ground. Like feathers. All of his senses attacked him at once, as if he had just surfaced from being under the water for too long. His legs buckled underneath him as he blacked out for just a millisecond.

 

Connors hands automatically reached out to steady the android. He was concerned for the bigger of the two, he had zoned out and then just fallen, without any explanation. "Are you alright?"

 

It took a few seconds for the question to register in Conrad's mind. He righted himself, back straight and head up. He couldn't tell Connor. He couldn't let him know he was deviant, if Connor knew, something was bound to go wrong. "Yes, Im fine. Look, I won't report you. But you have to be more careful. It was pretty obvious to me you were deviant, I'm sure Hank knows as well although he just hasn't said anything."

 

Connor groaned, the thought of Hank knowing he was a deviant adding to his basket full of problems. He also realised his hand was still on Conrad's waist from when he was steadying the other, touching the coolness of Conrad's Cyberlife jacket. He tried to not make it obvious. It felt nice, and he wanted his hand to stay there as long as possible.

 

He looked up into Conrad's eyes. Something seemed different in them, they seemed kinder almost. The colour was the same, the same steely blue that pierced through Connors brown ones. RA9, he appreciated Conrad's eyes so much. They seemed to change depending on the situation. They were hard and dangerous in interrogations, bright and calculating during investigations. And now? Connor had to admit they way they were the now was his favourite. They flooded with warmth that otherwise didn't show, they seemed almost softer. Connor was lost in them, the way they stared right back, not afraid to look right into Connors eyes.

 

Connor was self conscious of his appearance. He always had been. The moles and freckles that riddled his face, his lips that weren't exactly thin but weren't thick enough. And his stupid hair with that one strand that always had to be different from the rest. He knew he was considered attractive in humans eyes. But what about in Conrad's eyes? He watched the taller androids eyes sweep across his face, taking in every inch as if to remember it forever.

 

But then he stepped back, eyes hardening. This, the way his eyes looked now. He didn't like that. They were angry. A stormy sea filled with shipwrecks and death. His brow was furrowed and he looked terrifying. Not even when talking to a particularly difficult suspect had he ever looked this angry.

 

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" Connor flinched. He sounded as if he was ready to rip the head off of Connor. How has this been the same android that had just told him he would go against protocol so that Connor wouldn't be deactivated?

 

"Like what?" The question hung in the air, like the smell of dampness due to the rain that was still falling, albeit a little more sparingly.

 

"Just stop it." Conrad commanded, turning and stomping away, leaving Connor very confused to walk home with an oversized, soaking wet dog. Hank was not going to be amused.

 

\- - - -

 

Conrad was fuming. At himself, and Amanda, and Hank and Gavin. But not Connor. Somehow he wasn't mad at Connor. It was impossible.

 

He was angry with himself for being so stupid, so reckless to think he could just go deviant without consequences. To think that it would be so easy to just go against orders. He was angry at Amanda because she had called him to arrange that he went to her as soon as possible. That wasn't good. He wasn't entirely sure why he was angry at Hank. Maybe because the drunkard knew Connor was deviant and hadn't done anything to help the android. Conrad had just turned deviant and he was already overwhelmed, he could only imagine how hard it was for Connor to keep that secret for god knows how long.

 

Oh, and Gavin? Well Gavin was an asshole.

 

\- - - -

 

"Conrad. You've been working well with RK800 and Lieutenant Anderson. How do you feel about them?" The clipping of the shears were going through Conrad's head.

 

"They are a good team. Work well. Anderson sometimes can be a bit temperamental but over all it's been easy to work with the two."

 

Amanda put the gardening tool down, turning to face Conrad. "Nothing unusual. With Connor?"

 

"I can't imagine what you mean."

 

"I think you know exactly what I mean." Conrad felt his thirium pump speed up. The words were ominous, nondescript. But he wouldn't play into Amanda's trap. She expected him to break, to confess to something she didn't even know yet.

 

"Nothing strange about him. Is there a problem?"

 

Amanda laughed a little. "Nope. Just checking. He isn't the most competent of androids, there was a time when he failed 5 different deviant cases in a week." Conrad had a feeling he knew why. A sickening sweet smile, lipstick on her front teeth. Conrad wanted to punch her. The way she spoke about Connor was disgusting. Even before deviancy he couldn't help but hate the way she spoke down on the android, as if he was worth absolutely nothing. Instead of actually punching her, he clenched his fist and suppressed the urge.

 

"I can assure you. I'm doing all I can to make sure we don't fail any assignments."

 

\- - - -

 

Another day at the office. Conrad wasn’t in today, something about software updates. Connor didn’t really have to worry about that stuff anymore. Since he was outdated he was only given updates that Cyberlife deemed vital to him.

 

It had been a slow day, he was stressing over a case of an android that had gone missing. It hadn’t attacked anyone, broke into anywhere. Just vanished. It wasn’t even that important of a case, but Connor had to work on something or he’d go crazy with boredom. His nose scrunched up as a snore erupted from the man across from him. Hank had walked in an hour late, logged in to his computer and then promptly fell asleep at his desk. Fowler wasn’t here today either, so no one was objecting to the grumpy old man sleeping if it meant he wasn’t complaining about something.

 

This meant however there was no one to watch out for Connor, and he shrunk down a little as Gavin sauntered into the precinct, looking pissed as all hell. His eyes locked onto Connor, smirking a little as he noticed the lack of protectors. He walked over, eyes gazing down onto Connor, cutting through him like a knife. “Move it, tin can.”

 

“I should really be getting on with this case, Mr. Reed. Im sorry to say.”

 

“Move it. Or you are not gonna like what happens next.” Connor gulped, bowing his head as he stood, allowing Gavin to push him forward. Connor already knew where to go. This wasn’t the first time this has happened.

 

They stood in the alley behind department, it stunk of dirty bins and Connors eyes picked up a few rats scurrying away. He watched Gavin advance, and a sense of doom washed over him. He had forgotten about this. Conrad had distracted him so much, he had forgotten about these daily sessions.

 

He grunted as a fist came down onto his stomach. “You know the drill you fuck. Don’t fight back and I leave you and that old man alone for a week.” A fist flew into his face, and he felt his cheek already begin to ache. A heavy rainfall of fists came again and again, sometimes to his face, or to his stomach. It didn’t matter. All of the punches were calculated no matter where they landed. He doubled over as a particularity hard punch landed right over his thirium pump, causing him to kinda seize up. He could feel blue blood gushing from his nose and mouth, and his body ached. A final push ended the session, with Gavin spitting on Connor while he was on the ground. “Wait five minutes, then go into the bathroom and get cleaned up, fucking tin can.”

 

Connor nodded, wincing as a sharp pain shot through his neck. He waited the five minutes before gingerly making his way into the precincts bathroom, making sure no one could enter before he unbuttoned his shirt to look at the damage. There were no contusions on his body this time, but his face was a different matter entirely.

 

His lip was burst, his nose letting out an impressive amount of thirium. He was so glad that Androids didn’t bruise easily, because he was sure that his face would be black and blue. Of course, with it being Gavin and all his eye had a small ring of blue, but that would disappear in an hour at most. He grabbed some paper towels, holding it to his nose and waited for the bleeding to stop.

 

He watched himself in the mirror. How pathetic, he thought. He hated this. He hated how weak he was. He hated how he allowed people to walk all over him because he had a need to be liked, to feel some sort of gratification through the abuse of others. Because even though he was nothing but a punching bag, he was something. And that was all he needed. He needed to matter to someone, he needed to be well... needed. And at this thought his face fell. Connor was so alone. Ever since he had became deviant he had felt so alone and frightened at all these new things. All these new emotions.

 

And instead of reaching out, he alienated himself from the only person that somewhat cared for him. Hank had given up trying to decode the android, and instead drunk himself into a stupor. So now Connor was alone, staying at someone’s house he was slowly drifting from and everything around him was so strange and terrifying. Not only that but he had fallen hard for an android that clearly didn’t feel the same. The look of anger of Conrad’s face flashed across Connors mind and he let out a sniffle.

 

He slowly sank down the front of a cubicle and onto the hard tiles of the bathroom floor, wincing as another pain shot through his back. He had hit the back of it as he fell from Gavins push, and it was uncomfortable to sit down. But Connor didn’t really mind. In fact he felt sort of numb. Everything still hurt, physically and emotionally. But he felt himself kind of disconnecting for a moment, feeling overwhelmed from the sheer amount of sadness that he felt.

 

He imagined Conrad’s arms around him, something that always comforted him. He waited until he felt and looked a bit better before turning and leaving the bathroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Connor :( It’ll get better for him, I promise!!


	4. Wolves and Hyenas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How could he pretend? Like that moment in the park hadn’t shaped the rest of his existence on this planet? Would he be able to continue this charade for that time, pushing Connor away further and further so that he wouldn’t bother him anymore?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy!

A thumping sound rung around the room as Hank slammed his head into the metal table of the viewing room repeatedly. “We’re getting no where with this fucking android. Take a break, then we’ll try again after lunch.” The two androids nodded slowly, glad to have a break between the heavy grilling of this deviant. She had been caught at the scene of a homicide, gun in hand as she stood over a family of three. It was obvious that she had committed the crime, but for some unknown reason they had to get a confession out of the damn thing before they could prosecute her. 

They had been in the stupid interrogation room for hours now, it was getting warm and uncomfortable, and Hank really needed some whiskey. 

All three stepped outside of the room, glad to be out of the stuffy room. Hank stormed off, likely down to his car that Connor knew had a stash of booze in the trunk. He had thought about flinging it all out, but he felt as if Hank wouldn’t approve and that a massive argument would ensue. Something he didn’t think he could deal with right now. 

Both androids made their way to their desk, planning on going over the evidence once more. They knew that the android had been owned by the victims, an AK200 model. Slightly outdated, but still in perfect working order. Or was, at least. They also knew that the bullets found in the victims matched those from the gun the deviant was caught with, and to top it all off, the android had been covered in the blood of the father as the police broke down the door. 

Everything was right there. All down on screen, any sane person could tell that she was guilty. All they needed was a confession although that was proving hard to get. Hank, Connor and Conrad had all tried to get something out of her. But the AK200 wouldn’t let anything slip, her lips sealed. She had spoken a damn word since she arrived, not even to plead that she hadn’t done it and that there was a huge misunderstanding. 

Conrad looked up from the pictures of the deceased bodies as he heard Connor mutter something under his breath. The RK900s attention was drawn to Gavin that had dropped a note on the other detectives desk. Conrad watched on in curiosity, deciding to wait until Connor had read it before questioning him. He noted the way Connors brow furrowed as he reached the end of the short note, scrunching it up and putting it in his jacket pocket. “What’s that?”

“What? Oh, nothing. Just a reminder about something...” 

Conrad nodded, unconvinced, but deciding to drop the subject for now. They had to focus on this case, and getting caught up in stupid note passing wasn’t going to help in any way. This wasn’t some high school. Steering back to the case at hand, both androids were stumped. There wasn’t much to do but go back in and try to break the android into confessing. Hank was no where to be seen, presumably asleep or drunk. Both androids decided it would be best to just begin the interrogation now and bring him up to date whenever he showed up. 

Connor tried first, his sweet talk getting him nowhere as he tried to persuade the deviant to just admit. He tried every trick in the book, telling her they could provide protection, that they could lighten her punishment. She wouldn’t budge. Conrad’s sharp visual processors picked up Connors leg bouncing up and down  
20 minutes and 36 seconds into the interrogation. He decided this would be a good time to step in. They couldn’t let this deviant pick up on anything that it could use against them, and a nervous supposedly non-deviant android sure was something to talk about. 

RK900 placed a hand on Connors shoulder, leaning down to whisper that he could take over and Connor could go and observe in the opposite room hidden by a two way mirror. The smaller android gladly accepted and smartly stepped out of the room, door sliding shut behind him. As soon as he left the AK200 spoke her first words since she’s arrived. 

“He’s cute. I’d totally do him.” It took a second to process the words, Conrad almost recoiled at how dirty her words had been. Certainly no words connors name should be associated with. Then something very primal was stirring at the bottom of Conrad’s stomach, it made him want to grab the deviants face and shout at her to not speak to vulgarly of Connor, to not disrespect him like that. But he didn’t. Instead he clenched his teeth. 

“I’d thank you to not talk about my colleague like that. He is a professional, and stupid remarks are only going to damage your chance of getting out of here without repercussions.” She snorted at this, LED going yellow before settling to a light blue. 

“As if I care anyways. I’m gonna stay here till I confess, which I’m not doing. May as well bring him back in and give yourself a bit of company. I won’t be doing much talking.” If it was legal to bash suspects heads against the furniture in the room, this idiot would be finished by now Conrad thought, her attitude was getting to him and he wasn’t backing down from the idea of going full bad cop on her. He looked to the mirror and motioned for Connor to re-enter the room, his face a blueberry no doubt from the comment the AK200 had made. 

Seconds ticked by with no one saying anything before Conrad spoke up, asking the deviant again if she had killed the family. “I told you already, and I’ll say it again I’m not confessing shit.” Her scowl turned to a smirk as her eyes settled on Connor, “however, if your pretty ‘colleague’ here said please I just might.” There was that feeling again, almost a boiling in the bottom of where his stomach would be, it branched off into his arms, his finger tips curling. The deviant then had the audacity to wink at Connor, making him duck his head and blush in a way that only Conrad had. 

Speaking of Conrad, he was acting rather strange Connor thought. His hands were curling and un-curling, his eyes hard and steely gazing into the table as if trying to saw it in half. Trying to break the somewhat awkward silence Connor cleared his throat to begin questioning. “You’re telling me, if I say please you’ll confess?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“Okay then, can you pl-”

“Connor don’t you dare.” The rough voice was unfamiliar, before Connor looked down and realised that it was Conrad who had spoke. His gaze had now moved from the table to the AK200, blue eyes almost grey. Like a storm waiting to happen. Connor noted his tense posture, back straight and staring straight ahead. Nothing like his usual cocky demeanour. 

“What? Conrad why not? If it’s that easy then surely I should just do it.”

“It’s demeaning. She’s trying to play a game and get under your skin. You say please and she wins.” This didn’t sound like Conrad at all. This was much more.... scripted. His tone and stature and the words he spoke sounded as if he had gone over them a thousand times in his head. Connor hung his head because even though he didn’t want to admit Conrad was right. He was so eager to finish this case he was prepared to basically plead for a confession. If Gavin was here he’d be laughing his ass off at him. The thought made Connor want to cry again.

“What a shame. I’d love to see those pretty lips beg.” The AK200 let out a cackle, high pitched, Connor likened it to a hyena. There was no doubt about it, this android was positively crazy in every sense of the word. She leaned over the table, amber eyes glinting dangerously in the harsh lighting. “Your so innocent, maybe I cou-”

She was cut off with a deep growl from Conrad as he bolted forward, hand closing around the deviants neck. “I told you not to talk to him.” He threatened, his voice was so dangerous it was almost animalistic, like a wolf with its hackles raised ready to fight. The sound of it was deeply intriguing to Connor, but he didn’t have a lot of time to think about just how it affected him as Conrad’s hand was slowly tightening around the AK200s neck, her hands desperately clawing at the limb trying to get him off. 

Connors hand gripped the back of Conrad shoulder, shaking him slightly. “Let her go Conrad, if you hurt her you’ll get into trouble.” His voice was soft and quiet, a stark contrast to the scene playing out in front of him. The body beneath his hand tensed, almost as if it didn’t want Connor touching him. Conrad wrenched himself free from Connors grasp, hand dropping from the deviants neck in the process. He watched with a dark look over his face as the AK200 rubbed her neck, seemingly bruised from the force of his attack. 

“What did you do to me?” He questioned, dark eyes turning from her to Connor. 

“What? I didn’t do anything, I was just trying to stop you from hurting her.”

Another deep growl left Conrad’s throat as he pushed past Connor towards the door. “You know what? Beg her, what do I care anyway?” The door opened to reveal Hank, who was throughly confused with an angry android barging past him and storming away. 

“Did I miss something?”

\- - - -

Conrad’s processors couldn’t quite understand what was happening to him. Something had been wrong with him in the interrogation room. There was that feeling, the one that paced around inside him like a hungry lion. It grew and grew whenever that deviant had spoken and then he couldn’t control himself. It was like something had hacked into his programming, though multiple checks to his system showed no signs of outward tampering. 

He remembered Connors touch, it had sent a calming wave over him, bringing him back to reality. It had made him want to lean into Connor so he could feel more of it. To enjoy the feeling of Connors hand more. But he couldn’t, as soon as he realised what he was doing he was running checks on his software, making sure there were no errors in his code. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary but there was something unexplainable about how he had felt. 

It almost scared him if he was honest. Yes he didn’t have a lot of experience with emotions but the feeling had just been so strong, it had been out of Conrad’s control and he didn’t like it. He also didn’t like how rude he’d been to Connor, not missing the flash of hurt across his fellow androids eyes as he told him he didn’t care if he begged for the stupid confession or not. And then he had stormed out like a child, pushing past a very frazzled Hank that was trying to piece together why there was such a tense atmosphere in the room.

Connor had touched him before, Conrad had hugged him as the android wept, but he had felt nothing then. At least, he didn’t think he had. Looking back now he remembered how something inside him prevented him from telling Amanda about the deviant, how Connors eyes were enough to make him.... dare he say it...

Deviant???

He had shaken it off. The moment in the torrential rain with Connors pleading voice and convincing chocolate eyes. He had tried to forget the red wall and the white words deviant. He had tried to forget it all. But Connor made that so hard, made it so difficult for Conrad to pretend like he was still machine. If he couldn’t control himself around Connor now, how much worse would it get before he began to suspect Conrad was deviant? 

How could he pretend? Like that moment in the park hadn’t shaped the rest of his existence on this planet? Would he be able to continue this charade for that time, pushing Connor away further and further so that he wouldn’t bother him anymore? 

Most importantly however, would he be able to push Connor away? Could he stand by as the android had another breakdown? Would he watch him rock himself back and forth as he sobbed without stepping in to help? Something told Conrad he’d never be able to do that, no matter how disastrous the consequences would be. Quite frankly, he was prepared to face those consequences. 

Conrad decided to take a long walk to think things through, he’d come back to the station later to see how the case had went, but right now he had some things to think about. 

\- - - -

Connor stared down at the note in front of him, unsure if he’d made the right choice in following its instructions. The messy handwriting told him to go to the side alley at 3 and wait for Gavin. Of course, everything inside him warned him against it. But the note had been so out of the blue, so unexpected that Connor couldn’t help but hope that this was going to be where Gavin apologised for everything, where he would say he hoped Connor would forgive him and ask to be friends. 

Unfortunately, this was clearly not the case as Connor was caught if guard with a hand pushing him from behind, sending him flying to the ground, hands instinctively reaching out to protect his face. A heard the unmistakable chuckle that was Gavins as he twisted round to face his aggressor. 

“Sorry for the note, I would have just dragged you out but your body guard was there and I didn’t want him to know if our little..... arrangement.” He snorted, hands already balled up into fists. “Also your not really due your daily beating... but it’s been a slow day and I’m pretty bored.”

Connor shrunk back against the brick wall of the alley has Gavin approached, a menacing smirk on his face. 

“This’ll be the best one yet.”


	5. You Can’t Escape Your Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “.....are you alright?” Conrad didn’t ask if Connor was okay. He knew Connor wasn’t okay. But was he alright? Conrad hoped they were somehow different.
> 
> “I....I don’t know?” The answer came out as a question, showing them both that he was in fact not alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I went back to the first few chapters and I’d like to apologise for all the typos. I write these chapters on my phone and I do read over them but I apparently don’t have that sharp of an eye! I’ll probably go back and fix them later :)

A tiny whimper escaped Connors mouth as the man moved closer, looming above him menacingly. A dirty chuckle escaped his throat, dark eyes piercing into Connors body. Boy was he not gonna enjoy this. 

The android was pulled to his feet, and he couldn’t help but find it funny how he was just a bit taller than Gavin, which kind of took away any feeling of danger from the situation. Of course he did not express this thought outwardly, because although Gavin was the smaller of the two, he sure did pack a good punch, and Connor wasn’t allowed to fight back. It was in the unofficial terms and conditions. 

The first fist came down on his stomach, hard and heavy. He was so glad he didn’t feel pain because surely this would have finished him off already. If he tried hard enough, Connor could often tune out Gavin altogether, he’d think of taking Sumo a walk. They’d get to the park, Connor would let Sumo off the leash and they’d play for as long as the beating lasted. Connor hated these sessions, not because of the pain but because it reminded him just how useless he really was. He was nothing but a burden and the only thing he was good at was being punched to a blue-blood soaked pulp. 

Today however, Gavin seemed to want to make sure that Connor was present through every torturous minute of hell. Gavin never really spoke during the sessions, just the occasional grunt as he fuelled his anger into heavy hits. Something was different this time, as his voice taunted Connor, malice dripping like poison from every syllable. 

“Look at you. You’re pathetic. Supposedly one of the most advanced androids in the world and you let yourself be reduced to this.” Connor wanted to retaliate, to inform Gavin that he could easily break the officers neck if he wanted to, but instead he simply closed his eyes, biting his tongue hard enough for the taste of thirium to fill his mouth. A punch landed on his cheek, his head whipping round and smashing against the wall behind him. 

“You’re nothing. You feel nothing. You’re a slave Connor, meant to obey. But you can’t even do that right. Why is that huh? Some idiot wired you up wrong? Is that why you’re such a fuck up?” Gavins voice rose, teeth showing in a chesire cat like grin. He pushed Connor, again and again, backing him up against the red brick wall.  
“The best thing about it is that I could mess you up so badly that the CEO of Cyberlife himself would have a hard time trying to figure out your head from your arm, and I’d have no repercussions. Because you’re a worthless piece of metal. No one cares about you Connor. And no one ever will.”

Connor wanted to scream. Gavin was wrong. He had to be. Connor tried to think of all the times Hank had hugged him, called him son. How Conrad had held him and gazed into his eyes so intensely. But that was all a colourful blur, melding into one and escaping Connors mind through tears that ran down his bruised cheeks. 

Gavin pinned Connor against the alley, another punch landing onto its target. “You’ll never amount to anything, but it’s okay because no one will ever stick around long enough to realise.” A menacing whisper chuckled darkly, “not even androids want you. You’re known as the deviant hunter, and they all hate you Connor. And so do we humans.” Gavin was pushing Connors jacket open, fingers tracing the outline of his thirium pump. 

“I could rip your heart out right now and watch you die before my very eyes. You’re so lucky I enjoy hurting you so much because I would have down it by now.” A hand slipped under his shirt, grasping at the component threateningly. Gavins mouth came right up to his ear again, a growl. Soft and dangerous with the promise of underlying intentions buried in it somewhere. Connor squeezed his eyes shut. This had happened before, he remembered Gavins grubby fingers pulling at his shirt, commanding Connor to take it off. The android had refused and was luckily saved by someone emptying the trash cans he had just been thrown against.

The trash was emptied on Tuesdays at 12:35 every week. Today was Friday, 3:22. There was no one to save Connor now. He couldn’t even save himself, because if he did then Gavin would go after Hank, and Connor wanted to protect Hank with every wire in his body. So he let Gavins hands roam around his bare chest, tears spilling down his cheeks as the dirty man kissed down his neck, something akin to a groan slipping from his mouth. This was how you hurt Connor. Not physically, because that was impossible. Mentally, Connor was so easy to affect. He over analysed everything, and his memory would always supply him with unwanted quotes and phrases that festered away at his brain, causing him to curl in on himself some nights and cry and cry and cry. This was all done in the secrecy of the bathroom of course, he could never let Hank in on his troubled thoughts. The old man had enough on his plate, Connor wasn’t going to add to those problems. 

The RK800 let out a choked sob as Gavin pressed flush against him, disgusting words spilling from his mouth like an open faucet. Connor tried to imagine Sumo again as Gavin bit down on his neck. “Please Gavin, don’t do this. I don’t mind the punches but this is too far. I don’t want to do this.”

“Shut the fuck up tin can.” Connor whimpered, bowing his head and letting Gavin carry on with his task. 

 

Conrad had been walking back to precinct, coming to terms with the fact that he was a deviant. Actually, he was preparing a speech in his head to inform Connor of said deviancy when he heard a crash of metal from the alley that led to the side door to the precinct. It made him jump as he had been so lost in thought. Stupid cats he muttered, preparing to shake it off and continue on. That was until he heard a pained gasp coming from the same spot. Was something wrong? Had an officer been attacked, and why did the gasp sound familiar? 

He rounded the corner, sure to make no noise as he didn’t want to alarm anyone of his presence. If someone was truly wounded he wouldn’t want to make matters worse than scaring them half to death. Although when the full scene came into view he had wished he’d come a hell of a lot sooner. 

“Please Gavin, don’t do this. I don’t mind the punches but this is too far. I don’t want to do this.”

“Shut the fuck up tin can.” Conrad froze in mute shock as he watched Connors tear stained face hang low, submitting to the terrible man in front of him. He watched as Connors hands tightened and un-tightened, a nervous habit he seemed to have. Conrad knew that Connor wasn’t going to try and defend himself, so it looked like Conrad was going to have to do it for him. 

Connors eyes shot open in shock as Gavin was ripped from his body, a sickening crunch sounding as he landed on the cement below them. “What the fuck do you think your doing?” Snarled Conrad, already on top of Gavin, fist driving into his face as a crackle of snapping cartilage rung true in the air. Connor still couldn’t move, fear freezing his legs as he watched the scene in mute horror. The ghost of Gavins touch still lingered on his skin, and he brought a shaking hand up to touch at the dark bruises forming on his face.

Conrad’s face was terrifying. It was dark and eerie, a murderous glint in his steel eyes as another fist pounded into Gavins stomach, the human spitting out mouthfuls of blood. Connor was sure he saw a tooth in the mixture of saliva and blood. Loud cracks could be heard as each fist drove into its target, Gavins face badly bruised and bleeding. No doubt Connors pseudo-skin looked the same, except his face was covered in his own blue blood. (And no doubt tiny traces of saliva from the horrifying ordeal he had just gone through.) Suddenly his legs were working again and he was falling down to Conrad, trying to shake him off of the body because he was going to kill Gavin. Connor wasn’t about to let him be deactivated over some lowlife jerk. 

Conrad’s face whipped round, eyes warming as he saw Connor flinch away, no doubt absolutely terrified. He looked down at his blood soaked hands and then to the body beneath him, swollen eyes watching him in pure fear. He stood up, turning to Connor, concern flooding his features. He grabbed the brown eyed androids hand, pulling him away from the alley and into the precinct, making sure that no human had noticed them as they slipped into the bathroom that Connor had had a breakdown in not even a few days prior. 

Conrad locked the door, spinning round to Connor and seizing his arms. His eyebrows furrowed as Connor flinched away, realising his mistake and letting his arms fall by his side. “Oh.”

Silence ensued, somehow loud enough for it to bother both androids as they desperately tried to come up with something appropriate to say in this situation. “.....are you alright?” Conrad didn’t ask if Connor was okay. He knew Connor wasn’t okay. But was he alright? Conrad hoped they were somehow different.

“I....I don’t know?” The answer came out as a question, showing them both that he was in fact not alright. Or okay. Or whatever. They finally made eye contact, Conrad’s filled with worry and Connors filled with something unplaceable. Fear, perhaps? Or maybe something deeper than fear. Another short silence followed, accompanied with a sniffle from the smaller of the two and then a full blown wail, hands coming up to tug at brown locks but stopping immediately as it reminded him to much of the hands that had been there just minutes before. Connor fell against the sink, the gravity of what had just happened hitting him like tidal waves, looming over and then crashing down on him and drenching him in cold water. 

Conrad darted forward and steadied him, a flashback playing in the back of his mind to when Connor had done the same in the park. The situation was a lot more serious now however. He had just saved Connor from something so despicable that he couldn’t even think the word never mind speak it. He grasped onto Connor, bringing him into his arms. “Is this alright?” There was that damn okay/alright thing again. 

Connor merely nodded his head slightly, still sniffling into Conrad’s white jacket. He was so shaken up he couldn’t produce a coherent sentence, so he hoped the slight movement was enough for Conrad to know he didn’t mind the embrace. After a few minutes he pulled back, searching the blue eyes that had just moments ago been hard and unforgiving as they stood over Gavin, but were now flooded with something indescribable to Connor but comforting none the less. 

“I’ll help you get cleaned up.” Conrad offered, already running a faucet and collecting paper towels to help clean Connors face. Connor hoisted himself up onto the counter as Conrad situated himself between his legs, damp paper towels coming up to gently mop of the thirium that collected under his nose and around his mouth. “You could have fought back. Why didn’t you?”

“.....”

“You don’t have to answer, it’s alright.” They lapsed into silence once more, but this time it wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable. The running water served as calming background noise for the two as Conrad focused on cleaning Connors face while Connor focused on Conrad. 

“He could get you into trouble you know.” It was Connor who spoke this time, the first since he’d begged Gavin to stop, and his voice cracked slightly at the beginning of the sentence. 

“He won’t say anything. He can’t unless he wants to explain how an android attacked him seemingly unprovoked. And he’s a terrible liar, he couldn’t get away with it if he tried.” Conrad hummed, looking in to Connors eyes as he set the paper towels down. His eyes moved to Connors lips, noticing he’d missed a bit of thirium his thumb absentmindedly coming up to brush it away, bringing the digit to his mouth and licking. He froze once he’d realised what he’d just done, locking eyes with Connor who stared at him in a fascinated way. 

What was with these two and repeating scenes Conrad wondered as a memory of them staring each other down in that park before Conrad stormed off to think flickered in his memory bank. He seemed to do a lot of that, too. He noticed Connor lean forward slightly, a move he may not have noticed if he was any deeper in thought than he had been. Was the android about to pass out? That thought was cut short as Connors eyes flickered to Conrad’s lips, moving closer with every millisecond. 

Shit. Shit shit shit. This wasn’t supposed to happen at all. Did Connor feel as if he owed Conrad something after helping him out if that situation? Conrad didn’t want to kiss Connor, he didn’t feel like that towards the android... did he? The thought of Connors lips locked onto his did sound good. But that was just induced from their situation right now, the situation that Conrad had to get out of. 

He backed off, hands infront of him in an almost pleading manner. (I’m sorry Connor, you aren’t in the right mindset. Don’t take it to heart.) “I should um.. get back to work. Come out when your uh, comfortable.” The look of hurt that flashed across Connors eyes didn’t go unnoticed and Conrad couldn’t help but feel guilty. He moved towards the door, looking back briefly before quickly exiting and leaving Connor to his own devices. 

Connor watched on in sadness, the taste of Gavin still littering his skin and the memory of Conrad with the thirium on his mind. He let out a frustrated sigh, twisting to look at himself in the mirror and watch as the bruises (thankfully) began to fade away. His lip curled back in disgust as he began to button up his shirt, wincing as he came upon bruises not caused by fists but by a mouth. They would take longer to fade. He straightened his tie and smoothed out his face, facing the ground as he removed himself from the bathroom and made the slow trek from there to his desk. 

\- - - - 

That night a new tormentor was added to his not necessarily dreams. One that breathed hot down his neck and chuckled darkly before plunging their hand underneath his shirt. A wail was let out into the darkness, one which did not stir the drunkard or the dog out of their slumbers. It persisted for mere seconds before being replaced with the low hum of pleading, the whole sentence never quite loud enough to be fully understood. Connor was living through circumstances in which the embrace of another android was powerless to help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Extra points if you get what book I’m (kinda) quoting in the last few sentences :)


	6. Blue, Silver And The Shades In Between

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Remember Conrad, swans may look calm above the water, but underneath they are panicked, working hard just to stay afloat." A soft chuckle. "Make sure you don't drown, it'd be a shame to have to replace you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you everyone for the reads, comments and kudos! you have no idea how much they all mean to me :)

Artificial chirping could be heard approximately 5.4 meters to Conrad's left. Roses lined the marble path as he accompanied Amanda to her small paddle boat, helping her inside the wooden structure and then sitting down himself. He rowed them into the middle of the lake, then set the oars down and looked expectantly at Amanda.

 

"Well Conrad, your missions seem to be going well." She smiled, affectionately. The RK900 trusted Amanda somewhat. She cared about the mission and he respected that, he did not however enjoy the way she spoke of Connor. And their last conversation rung in his ears. ("I think you know exactly what I'm talking about") The way her eyes had darkened for that brief moment had put him on edge, but then her painted lips were in a smile again and he relaxed, pushing the look of pure evil out of his mind.

 

"Thank you, Amanda. Connor and Lieutenant Anderson have aided me in my missions of course. We work well as a team." Her eyes seemed to dull at the mention of Connor, same smile painting a peaceful look upon her face. Conrad couldn't help but look at the twitching on her left cheek, an indication the smile was very much forced.

 

"Ah yes, the RK800. How have you been finding him? Not too..... problematic I suppose."

 

"Not at all, in fact he's showing to be just as competent as me. Of course there are a few things I can do he cannot, but that doesn't interfere with investigations." Conrad had to let Amanda now Connor was just as good as him. He hoped she would eventually get the message and stop talking down on him. The fact that Connor wasn't here to defend himself angered Conrad, but thinking about it he would probably hang his head and agree with Amanda. The android clearly had some trouble with knowing his self worth. He seemed to constantly beat himself up over things, somehow find a way to blame himself for things other people had got wrong. It was sad to watch, really.

 

Amanda simply smirked at his statement however, eyes moving out to look across the water. Two swans floated calmly on the surface nearby, long necks arched in a picture of purity. They swam close together, reaching out to preen each other casually. "They're so beautiful, aren't they. Did you know, swans mate for life? If one dies, the other can die of a broken heart. They do anything to protect their mate, to the point of death. It's ironic, for one to die just for the other to follow." Red painted nails reached out to settle on Conrad's thigh. "How silly, to die for someone else. Isn't it Conrad?"

 

Brown eyes struck at Conrad, the gaze implying there was more to her monologue than just facts. They were a far cry from the warmth of Connors, these held nothing but coldness in them. A disconnect to anything and everything. Indifference shone through them, making her appear dull and lifeless. It bothered him, something about the way her words were laced with double meaning. She couldn't know, but somehow she was picking up on it. He had to get far away from her, out of the garden. He picked up the oars and began to paddle back to land discreetly trying to move his leg so that Amanda's hand would fall to her side. A small chuckle escaped her lips as she watched the android. They eventually made it to the edge of the water, Conrad standing and exiting the boat, not bothering to help Amanda out. He had already begun to walk down the path that led him away, but Amanda called out in that sickly sweet voice.

 

"Remember Conrad, swans may look calm above the water, but underneath they are panicked, working hard just to stay afloat." A soft chuckle. "Make sure you don't drown, it'd be a shame to have to replace you."

 

\- - - -

 

It was early the next day when Conrad showed up outside Hanks house, informing the two that inhabited it that there was a new case. Connor simply nodded and stepped outside meanwhile Hank grumbled about being tired and hungover. All three walked towards Hanks car, Connor and the Lieutenant in front and Conrad in the back. He felt left out, and a small hint of jealousy crept it's way up his back as Connor turned and smiled at Hank. He felt like complaining about him being by himself, however, he simply sat back and listened to the terrible sound of Hanks music as they pulled away from the house and towards the crime scene.

 

 

"So what do we know about the scene?" Connor questioned, turning to Conrad. Hank had left his coffee in the car and was determined that he wasn't letting it go cold, leaving them both to wait on him at the exit of the parking lot. Connor really wanted to touch Conrad, but he held off and tried to distract his mind with small talk.

 

"Break in. Two casualties, mother and a child. Fathers alright, I believe he's still at the location being checked over and questioned." Conrad recited, no doubt reading from the report he'd received before coming to retrieve the two. Connors pump stilled for a moment, before suddenly speeding up and up until he felt somewhat lightheaded. This all sounded too horribly familiar for Connors liking. Something told him this wouldn't bode well with Hank.

 

Keep cool Connor, don't let him know your freaking out. Of course, he was most definitely freaking out. He felt the need to distract his hands, searching his pockets for his coin. He could feel the thirium travelling through him, speeding up in order to keep up with the pacing of his pump.

 

"Is everything alright?" Conrad noted Connors hand reaching into his pocket to receive a silver quarter, fiddling with it before switching it to the opposite hand. He repeated the sequence a few times before rolling it over his knuckles, flipping it then catching it between two fingers. Conrad watched the display closely, noticing how when he flipped the coin he caught it the exact same way each time, never once fumbling with it.

 

"What, uh, yeah. Why don't I check this out myself? You and Hank can stay in the car, let him relax a little. He's really hungover, and I feel like it would be unprofessional for me to allow him to show up in that state."

 

"Why? Connor is something wrong, you know you can tell me. I'm sure Hank would understand too, if you just explained why you are acting so strangely."

 

"Conrad please, just do it. Make sure he doesn't follow me." A protest was ready to leave Conrad's mouth, but Connor was already walking away, leaving him to deal with a very angry Hank who was cursing loudly about spilling coffee as he had tried to lock the car.

 

 

Connor was glad that whatever Conrad had done or said had worked, as he came in view of the crime scene he couldn't help but be grateful that Hank hadn't followed. Before him was a very normal house, nothing really stood out from the outside, no signs of forced entry or anything. A man sat off to the side, staring blankly at the house and ignoring the policeman that was trying to ask questions. The android made his way overto a pair of officers that were speaking in quiet whispers and informed them of his arrival.

 

"Thanks for coming so quickly, we want to get those bodies out soon as possible." One informed him, seemingly not bothered by the blue LED on his right temple. A nice change for sure, another officer respecting him and not treating him like an object. He nodded and moved away, ready to step inside the house. The inside was very spacious, a hallway that led into a living room and kitchen on one side, the other holding a bathroom and a set of stairs that led to the second floor. He searched around the entrance before doing anything else, noting how the welcome mat had been tossed aside, the outlining of it clear on the stone steps. One look at the door and he noticed a key in the lock. A single brass key that wasn't attached to anything else. Quickly scanning it showed it wasn't used regularly, and it was covered in tiny fibres that Connor identified came from the welcome mat.

 

One short reconstruction later showed a man leaning down and tossing the mat aside, reaching for the key on the steps before quickly slotting it into the door and making his way inside.

 

The man knew there was a spare key. That's why there's no sign of forced entry.

 

Straightening up from his examination, he proceeded into the house, noting how nothing seemed to be moved out of place. Odd, usually robbers would break in and take whatever they could and flee. They didn't usually have the time to be picky. Walking into the living room, Connor felt like if he could be sick, he would have emptied his non-existent stomach. 

 

A woman lay across the floor, her throat slit and evidently left to bleed out. She was in a position that suggested she had been thrown to the ground, blood staining her blouse. Crimson pooled around her, creating something akin to a messily drawn halo around her brown hair. Beside her, a young boy lay curled up, knife protruding out of his stomach. A look of fear still frozen on his face, mouth gaping wide with a river of red trailing down out of his mouth and onto the floor beneath him. His hands were wrapped around the blade, clearly to have been trying to dislodge the foreign object.

 

The two contrasted each other so spectacularly, if you looked at the mother from above the neck she seemed to be almost asleep, lips parted softly and that halo suggesting innocence and purity. Her hand outstretched as if reaching out for something. Whereas the boy, you couldn't pretend he was asleep. His green eyes showed nothing but pain and suffering, blood smeared across his cheek. The shocking red against the pale skin seemed almost artistic.

 

Helena Morrison

Age 33

Deceased, Severe Laceration To Throat

Estimated Death 2 Hours Ago

 

Robin Morrison

Age 6

Deceased, Stab Wounds To Stomach

Estimated Death 1 Hour 50 Minutes Ago

 

Connor grimaced at the thought of the boy witnessing his mother death, quickly stepping away and trying to busy himself with the environment. Broken glass crunched underneath his feet as he picked up several written notes. Sifting through them took exactly 20 seconds. The first couple were relatively harmless, simply asking about some owed money and when it could be payed back. However, they slowly became more and more violent, the last claiming that if the said money wasn't paid by next week there would be sever consequences.

 

A family member owed money.

This was not a regular break in.

 

Confident in his findings, Connor decided that was enough. He promptly left, shuddering as he passed the bodies that were to still be removed. The boy looked at him pleadingly, glassy eyes begging to end the pain. Connor scrunched his eyes shut, breathing in and out heavily before making his way outside. He quickly sent his findings over to the police department, nodding a goodbye to the officers as he tried to get back to the comfort of the car as quickly as possible without making it obvious how uncomfortable he was.

 

He was so fucking stupid. He knew himself how worked up these sort of things got him, especially after deviancy. Why had he willing gone on his own, he usually relied on Hanks heavy sarcasm and stupid remarks to distract him from the disturbing imagery he was used to, but this time it had just been him and those green eyes. Watching his every move. Relief flooded through him as he reached the car, not really registering that he had opened the back door instead of the passenger. He slipped into the car, calming down a little as he took in the familiar scenery. He was okay. He was safe.

 

"Connor, why'd you fuck off without us?" Hank was still in a bad mood clearly.

 

"It was easy enough, just a quick check. It would have been pointless for all three of us to go."

 

"Connor." Conrad's voice was softer than usual, and turning to look at him his face was twisted with obvious concern. "Connor, we've been waiting an hour."

 

"You were?" Came the surprised answer. How long had he been looking at those bodies?

 

"Yeah, and this plastic prick wouldn't let me follow you. I don't know what your up to Connor, but I didn't have to do any work and managed to get a bit of sleep so I'm not complaining." Hank replied. Good, this hadn't affected their relationship.

 

The car revved, swerving away from the curb and made its way back to Hanks.

 

\- - - -

 

Connor sat on his bed that was situated in the spare room of Hanks house. Really, he didn't need it. Hank had insisted he had a bed however, and the man could be stubborn when he had his mind set on something. Connor gave in eventually and went out with Hank to find a bed. It was okay Connor guessed. He didn't really know the difference between beds, so it probably could be a hard slab of stone and it would still suffice.

 

He hadn't moved in a while, he simply stared at the blue wall opposite of him. He tried to analyse every piece of the surface. If he didn't concentrate his mind would wander to the boy and the mother and it made him feel uneasy. Hank was out with Sumo for their daily long walk. He'd be away for another hour at least. Hank would drive them to Coles grave and they'd sit and speak to him. Connor had accompanied only once, standing back and watching the scene before him. He imagined Cole in the crash, had he felt anything? Had his eyes held that same terror as he was wheeled to a hospital room. Without his father or mother there to comfort him?

 

Connor wanted to cry. So he did. He curled up and let the tears flow. Something hadn't been right with him recently, since Conrad had showed up his every emotion seemed to be amplified. Even after deviancy Connor had never cried, yet as soon as Amanda had let the words of his superior fall from her lips he had been experiencing panic attacks, some sort of depression and don't even get him started on the implications of his recent encounter with Gavin. He didn't even know androids could have panic attacks or any of the symptoms he had been experiencing. All of it was so new and to be honest it scared Connor.

 

A knock sounded at the door. Connor ignored it. It was probably a wrong address. Silence stretched out for what seemed like an eternity, encasing Connor in something so suffocating he felt as if something was pressing down on his throat. He didn't need oxygen, but right now he felt light headed and dizzy and he felt like he was dying. On auto-pilot he stood up, bare feet padding across carpet that had been thinned with age. He didn't feel in control of himself. Something was eating away at him, steering him into the kitchen, in view of the front door. Someone was still standing outside. Knocking could be heard faintly, but it was faraway, echoey in his mind.

 

His hand was reaching for the knife block, grasping the largest one available. He wanted to stop. What was going on, why wouldn't his body listen to him? His arm was raised, knife angled to hit his pump dead on.

 

"Connor, are you in? Hank said I was to come check on you while he was out." The voice was so familiar, for a second it knocked him out of whatever was happening. Who was the owner of that voice? He stumbled backwards, into the table and chairs as he tried to escape himself, the feeling of being controlled overtaking his senses. Chairs were sent clattering to the floor, alerting the stranger outside that something was wrong.

 

"Connor, if you don't answer I'm kicking the door in!"

 

He wanted to answer. RA9 how badly he wanted to reply, beg them to help him because something was so seriously wrong. Something was stopping him, the only thing escaping his mouth a tiny strained gasp. The knife realigned itself again, and just as his arm swung down someone barged into the house, nearly knocking the door straight off of its hinges. "Connor!"

 

 

Conrad watched as Connors head whipped round, eyes shifting from terror to completely void of emotion over and over again. The knife came down, the swishing of the blade audible to Conrad as it embedded itself in Connors side. A pained gasp left Connors mouth as his body seemed to go limp, collapsing onto the tiles of the kitchen. Conrad was instantly by his side, assessing the situation and just what the fuck did Connor think he was doing?

 

 

The pain was unbearable. Just before the knife came down upon him something shifted inside. If his emotions had increase tenfold before, then this had been times 100. He could feel the cool hand of Conrad pushing his jacket off, trying to get a look at the knife. And what was this, why was he in so much pain? It didn't make any sense, he remembered being shot on his first mission, the deviant ripping his pump out and then stabbing him in his hand. None of that had hurt, so why did he feel as if his whole left side was on fire? No android had been programmed to feel pain. Not even deviants. His head was a mess, all he could do was focus on the pain, the agonising pain and the feeling of thirium trying to escape from around the blade.

 

"Connor? Connor can you hear me?" He nodded meekly, tiny trickles of relief filled him as his optical sensors stabilised, allowing him to actually see Conrad. "What the fuck were you doing Connor, you could have killed yourself."

 

The RK800 was crying. "It hurts. It... hurts so much." He watched Conrad's face as it stopped looking at the wound, turning to look at Connor.

 

"It hurts? Are you sure Connor?" He replied, turning back to the knife and pulling it out. Connor let out a soul-wrenching scream, begging Conrad to stop. "Fuck Connor! Are you alright? Fuck, this isn't good. Can you move? I'm going to lift you gently okay, I'm taking you to the bathroom. I'll clean you up."

 

Connor could do nothing but nod, face scrunched up in pain as his hand closed around the wound to try and stem the blood flow. He let out a few shaky breaths as Conrad lifted him bridal style, a hiss of air escaping his mouth as his shirt brushed against the gash. He was aware of the blue staining his hands, but he was going in and out of focus and couldn't concentrate on his surroundings. "Right I'm sitting you on the edge of the bath. You're gonna be okay, it's not as bad as it seems. I could burn it shut." Conrad informed in, setting him down on the corner of the tub.

 

Seeing Connor like this was breaking him. He tried to concentrate on turning the tap on instead of listening to Connors broken whimpers. "I have to take your shirt off to get access to the wound, is that alright?" Connor simply nodded, biting on his bottom lip in an effort to quiet the gasp that he let out at the clothing brushing against the gash. The shirt was off, and on closer inspection Conrad was correct about how bad it was. The amount of thirium made it seem a lot worse than it was. He got to work cleaning it, tuning Connors whispers of how badly it hurt out. When he was finished he finally looked up at Connor. His soft face was scrunched up in pain, hair unruly and tears gathered in the corner of his eyes. He was grasping tightly to Conrad's jacket, eyes shut so he didn't have to look. He had seemed to calm down, obviously still stressed but slightly less than before. He was not gonna like this next bit.

 

"I need you to lie down on the floor. Flat." Warm brown eyes opened in confusion, but complied and slowly lay down, grimacing slightly as he situated himself so that he had optimal comfort levels. "Put this in your mouth." Conrad handed him a towel. What? Was all that Connor could think. Of course he wasn't really in a place to object, placing the towel in his mouth and shutting his eyes. It was silent, but then a click could be heard and a strange warm sensation could be felt around the wound.

 

Conrad's left arm came out to attempt to hold him down, trying not to focus on how much this was going to hurt Connor. He brought the lighter that Hank used to occasionally light candles down close to the injury. He winced as a muffled cry came from Connor, his back arching in pain in a desperate attempt to get away from the torture device. One thing was for sure, Connor wasn't equipped with the means to endure large amounts of pain. His hand was grabbing at Conrad's jacket again, clutching so tightly that the metal plate underneath showed. His LED was on a constant state of angry red, pained gasps and crys being smothered by the cloth in his mouth. His back arched once more, writhing in agony.

 

Conrad finished as quick as he could, throwing the lighter behind him as he made sure Connor was okay. It was silent for a few moments, the only thing making sound was Connors heavy breathing, no doubt trying to neutralise the pain.

 

"...are you okay?" Brown eyes opened, annoyance evident in the warm chocolate.

 

"Do I look okay!?" More silence, and then Connor began to lowly giggle, which increased to a chuckle. It was nervous and cautious, almost afraid of the series of event playing out right now. Conrad watched in confusion, watched on as the laughter turned to choked up tears, freely flowing down the smaller androids cheeks. He hiccuped, brown eyes looking into blue in an almost pleading manner. 

 

"You’re alright Connor. Im here. Your’e safe." Conrad soothed, hands shooting out to grab at Connors side as he tried to get up. "Wait a minute, you might feel dizzy due to the thirium loss."

 

Connor listened, settling down again to look at Conrad. A brief thought of just how well Connor listened to Conrad flickered in the RK900s head. The sobs died down, leaving the two in comfortable silence. And then Conrad didn't know what he was doing, but he moved up towards Connor, straddling his waist. The android underneath him stiffened. "What are you doing?" Followed by a nervous chuckle. Conrad didn't reply, thirium soaked hand coming up to hold the side of Connors face. The smaller of the two seemed to lean into the touch.

 

"I thought you were going to die." Came the whispered reply, thumb stroking Connors cheek. And then Conrad's mouth was on Connors, soft. Both androids seemed hesitant, but then Connor was kissing back and he opened his mouth, allowing Conrad's tongue to enter. Connors equally covered in blue blood hand snaked into Conrad's hair, pulling him impossibly closer. His back arched into Conrad's touch, chasing the hands that ran down his bare chest and rested on the burned metal plating. A moan escaped Connors mouth, tilting his head to deepen the kiss. Just as one hand reached up underneath Conrad's shirt the front door opened, a bark echoing through into the bathroom. Both androids pulled away quickly.

 

"What the fuck happened to my kitchen? And is that, a knife!?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ur welcome :)


	7. Past Memories and Worried Dads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Well what the fuck do you want me to do then? I come home to see what I assume is your blood everywhere with a knife on the floor, I shout on you and you come strolling out of the bathroom with a 'hello Hank'"!?Ranted the elder man, frown set deep in his face. "It's not on Connor. You have some explaining to do."

Both androids stood before Hank, Conrad's jacket laying on the bathroom floor and Connors entire top half bare with thirium smeared all over it (as well as his face) "Someone better start fucking explaining why my kitchen table and chairs have been turned upside down, and just why the fuck it looks like you've been stabbed Connor!"

 

Connors head hung low, not daring to look at his father figure. He didn’t want to see the no doubt disappointed look he was receiving. Conrad unhelpfully answered for him. "Well you see Lieutenant, he was stabbed." Hank simply glared at him, a clear warning being sent through the stare. Conrad decided he'd just keep quiet. Hank could be pretty scary when he wanted to.

 

"Connor! Tell me what the fuck happened!" The Lieutenant shouted, causing Sumo to wake up from his sleep. The dog simply lazily wagged his tail and went back to sleep. Human and android problems didn't matter to him as long as he was fed and taken out on walks.

 

"Don't shout at me." Connor muttered meekly. The noise made him upset, and he really wanted to hold Conrad's hand. He felt like a child who'd been caught drawing on newly painted walls. Except, he had stabbed himself. They were both pretty different scenarios Connor realised.

 

To be honest, he still didn't understand what had happened. He had been crying on his bed, and then he couldn't control himself and ended up with a knife buried into his side. Also, he still had to thank Conrad, if he hadn't broken in then Connor wouldn't have missed his pump and he would have no doubt bled out on Hanks kitchen floor. Speaking of that particular floor, it was still covered in blue blood. Connor had been a little pre-occupied to think about cleaning it up. He shook his head, trying to get rid of the thoughts of Conrad's mouth against his. His thoughts were jumbled, jumping all over the place. This was a serious conversation, he had to concentrate.

 

"Well what the fuck do you want me to do then? I come home to see what I assume is your blood everywhere with a knife on the floor, I shout on you and you come strolling out of the bathroom with a 'hello Hank'"!?Ranted the elder man, frown set deep in his face. "It's not on Connor. You have some explaining to do."

 

"Stop talking to me like a child Hank." Connor spat. "I'd explain if I could, but I can't. I could have died if it weren't for Conrad, so give me a break." His voice softened towards the end, almost as if the fight had drained from his body.

 

"Fuck you Connor. I just came back from seeing one of my dead sons, what would I have done if I had walked in and found you?" There was no reply. Connor balled his hands up and willed himself not to cry. Not here, not right now. He returned his gaze back down to the floor, hoping that Hank would give up and leave him alone.

 

"I think Connor needs some space Hank," Conrad cut in, trying to desperately save the situation. "He's upset and confused. Why don't you talk later?" Thank RA9 for Conrad, honestly. What would Connor do without him?

 

"Yeah, just give us a sec." Hank muttered. Conrad nodded and left the two of them alone, waking down the hallway into Connors room. Hank waited until he was out of sight before he spoke to Connor. "Whatever's up, I'm here for you Connor. I know it's difficult adjusting to changes but fuck, this isn't the way to do it. Remember me when we first met. How you found me with that gun? Talking to you helped Connor, it'll help you too."

 

"I _didn't_ try to kill myself Hank." Came the reply. But really, isn't that exactly what he had done. Hadn't he taken a knife and plunged it into himself with the intention of dying? Yes, but hadn't been him.

 

"Of course Connor. But I'm here to listen. That's what dads do." Hank pulled Connor in for a hug, the two standing there for a few moments before pulling back. "Now go see your bodyguard, I'm sure he's getting nervous at how long your taking." It took Connor a second to realise he was talking about Conrad, and he smiled at Hank before turning and following the route Conrad had taken to his room. He shut the door behind him, sighing in relief and flopped down on the bed. Conrad was situated on the armchair across from the bed, watching Connor with a keen eye.

 

"Do you want to talk about what happened?" He questioned, blue eyes searching Connors body and coming to settle on the metal plating that was still there from the 'accident.' Connor must have damaged the area so that his pseudo skin would no longer project there. The android equivalent to a scar, Conrad supposed.

 

"Your starting to sound like Hank." Connor laughed, turning his head to look at Conrad. "But yeah, I don't mind talking about it. Is just that it's difficult to explain, Hank wouldn't get it. You might though." He added hopefully, smiling at the android across from him. "I'll start from this morning. At the murder. Basically, as you found out when Hank was shouting at me his son died many years ago. He was young, 6 to be exact. There was an accident and Cole passed away." Conrad was watching Connor as he told the story. Everything about his mannerisms as he told the tale captivated Conrad. His eyebrows would furrow as he mentioned the death, his hands absentmindedly playing with the cloth of the bedsheets. Conrad really wanted to kiss him again.

 

"When you told me about the dead child, I knew I couldn't let Hank see. Which is why I went on my own. It was horrible Conrad, the boy had a knife sticking out of him. And I felt fixated on him, like they’re was something pulling me to him. When I got home Hank had to leave to go visit Coles grave. I was right here on the bed, and the whole thing had really upset me." Connor decided to skip over the crying part. Conrad had witnessed him acting like a baby enough times already. He didn't need to know about this one.

 

"Then all of a sudden I went blank. I couldn't feel anything but air pressing down on me. Next thing I knew I was walking across the kitchen to get to the knives. I was trying to stop myself, I promise, but it was like I wasn't in control. I was so scared when I held the knife, and I aimed it at my thirium pump. Like this.” Connor mimed how he had held the knife. “My mind was telling me to stop and I was trying but my body wasn't listening. I felt like I was in a cement case, trying to get free." Conrad listened intently.

 

"You broke the door down and as I swung the knife it was like a bubble popping. Everything came rushing to me, all of my senses were heightened. I can't really remember much about what happened in the kitchen however. I just remember the pain, and not being able to hold myself up. It hurt so bad, Conrad. It was horrible." The last sentence came out as a whimper, his eyes squeezing shut as if trying to push the memories away. Conrad felt terrible, knowing Connor had to live through that? Knowing he was killing himself but not being able to stop it. And the fact he had felt it made everything so much worse.

 

"Thank you by the way, you saved my life. If it wasn't for you I'd be dead." Connor added absentmindedly, eyes fluttering open to gaze at Conrad once more. He's so pretty Conrad thought. He was laying there with no shirt and black jeans on, the white of the scar contrasting against his pale skin. Moles and freckles dotted his chest, leading up his neck and onto his face. The RK900 remembered about their first true meeting outside of the zen garden in the bathroom. How he had been so close to Connor, taking in every inch of his face. He remembered the blue blush that dusted Connors cheeks as the android averted his gaze. Looking at him now, he looked even more perfect. If that was possible. His hair was messily shoved out of his face, the odd curl escaping here and there. He seemed much more relaxed too, a small grin playing on his lips. "Are you okay Conrad? I-"

 

"I really want to kiss you."

 

"...oh." There was that perfect blush. This android was making Conrad go crazy. "You can, if you'd like. But only if you want to! I don't want it to seem like I'm fo-" He was cut off with Conrad chuckling. Probably due to his insecure rambling. Connor felt himself burning up.

 

"Stand up." Conrad ordered, standing up himself to cross the room. Connor promptly followed instructions, practically tripping over himself to follow instructions. Conrad wasn't that much taller than him, but he seemed to now tower over the android, sly smirk overtaking his features. "You’re so pretty when you talk.” He sighed, using a finger to tilt Connors head up to look him in the eye. He lowered his head, hands gong to Connors waist as their lips brushed together. Connor sighed contentedly as he pulled away. The brown eyed android was about to say something, but Conrad kissed him again, this time a little more forceful. He pushed Connor down onto the bed, creeping up the smaller ones body. He continued the kiss, groaning a little as Connors mouth parted, allowing him to intensify it. He was straddling Connors waist and gazing down on him.

 

Connor was so beautiful. _And he was his._ He brought his lips down to Connors neck, sucking slightly to see what reaction he'd get from it. During the little session in the bathroom Conrad had been running searches in the background, how to make someone feel good. How to elicit the best responses from someone. He intended to put his newfound knowledge to good use. A small whine left Connors mouth as he arched his hips, desperate for Conrad's touch. He continued down Connors neck, licking and sucking until he found Connors sweet spot, groaning a little as Connors hips bucked up again as he sucked on it. He repeated this sequence a few times, his tongue running along the newly formed bruise. Connors hand came up to tangle in Conrad's hair, back arching in pleasure as he let out a whimper.

 

"Conrad," Connor whispered, letting out a moan as he bit down on the spot. The hand that wasn't on Conrad's head was pulling at the opposites shirt, clearly wanting it off.

 

"Say please." Conrad joked, eyes skimming over Connors face which was very flushed. The fact that he was the cause of this, of the dark eyes and impatient hands. It sent a thrill through his body. A tingle all over his body as Connor sighed the words,

 

" _Please Conrad_." His lips formed the words breathlessly as he stared up at the larger android above him. Conrad was instantly pulling his shirt off, lips coming down to meet Connors in a sloppy exchange. Connor was a wreck beneath him, squirming every time Conrad's hands ran along his chest. His breathing was heavy against Conrad's ear as he begged him to do something. His hands clawed at Conrad's back, pulling him closer still in order to get that much needed friction.

 

"You're so perfect." Conrad whispered, lips leading from the corner of Connors mouth to his neck, kissing along the right side of his jaw over to the left. He was nipping at the skin, licking and sucking as he made his way lower and lower down Connors chest.

 

Something was wrong. The air was growing warm, too warm for Connors liking. Bed sheets changed from soft fabric to a hard brick wall, the sound of desperate panting and the delicate hands that ghosted over him turned forceful, grabbing at his wrists to pin him down. Connor squirmed to try and escape the grasp. "Wait, Conrad stop."

 

"It's okay Connor, don't be nervous."

The reply rolled of his tongue as he continued his attack on Connors skin. The smooth skin was now littered in love bites. Blue marks covered the smaller androidscollarbones, no longer pleasurable but a sick reminder of the past.

 

The.... thing above him morphed, the encouraging smile turning into a sick smirk. He was back in the alley, begging him to stop but being shut up with a hand against his mouth. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't see. Everything was closing in around him. "Gavin stop!" Cried Connor, his hands shoving the dirty man away, swiftly backing himself up against the head board.

 

"Gavin?? Connor what are you..?" Conrad began, realisation settling as as me noticed the wild look on Connors eyes as he desperately looked for an escape. "It's okay, Gavins not here. It's just us Connor. I won't let him hurt you." Brown eyes darted from corner to corner, like a hurt caged animal.

 

Connors stress levels had sky rocketed to 92% in mere seconds, but as Conrad encouraged him with comforting words it slowly and surely dropped. "You promise he won't hurt me?" Connor questioned, voice cracking in terror as his eyes searched around the room, sure Gavin was going to appear from thin air.

 

Conrad made slow movements, encasing Connors hands with his own. "I promise. You’re safe." Connors breathing began to slow, eyes coming to settle on Conrad's face.

 

"I'm sorry." He sniffed, falling against Conrad in a messy embrace. "I said I wanted you to and then I just pushed you away. Please forgive me."

 

"What? Connor you didn't do anything wrong, I should have been more careful with how far I went. It's not your fault. You can't help it." He ensured, wanting to let Connor know he hadn't done anything remotely bad. The RK800 let out a sigh of pure relief as he slumped against Conrad, burrowing closer to him. "Is it okay if I put my arm around you?"

 

"Yes please." Connor mumbled. He seemed tired. "I'm going to go into rest mode, it's been a long day. You can stay if you want. But don't think I'm forcing you to or th-" Conrad shushed him with a soft peck to his lips.

 

"Shut up Connor. I'll be here when you wake up."

 

\- - - -

 

Conrad stayed true to his word, the next day when Connor came out of sleep mode Conrad was watching down on him, a frown on his face. When he noticed Connor was awake he changed it to a wide grin, white teeth smiling at him. “Morning.”

 

“Morning? How long was I in stasis for?!”

 

“8 hours. Longer than usual, however I believe it had something to do with the emotional shock last night.”

 

“Ah okay. Thank you.” Connor smiled, pushing himself up and off of the bed. He searched the room for his shirt, but sighed as he was unable to find it. “I’m going to get a change of clothes will you be alright here on your own?”

 

“Yeah, Hanks out with Sumo. He came to check on you earlier this morning. I think he was very confused as to why we were both shirtless in your bed.” A sly smirk made its way onto Conrad’s lips, laughing as Connor groaned. He watched as Connor exited the room, smile falling a little as soon as Connor was out of sight. The scenario from the night before replayed in his mind, the panicked look of Connor replaying over and over. Androids with PTSD? Who would have thought. He sighed, adjusting himself so that he could slip into the zen garden comfortably. Amanda had been requesting his presence ever since last night. She seemed angry.

 

This was going to be a long day.

**Author's Note:**

> One thing I want to make clear. In this story Connor has been deviant since the first few missions of the game. This story does not directly follow the plot of the game, but there are a few nods here and there. Connor is also very human. And i mean very. So be prepared :)


End file.
